WHITEWATER — Hosting a 2-7 team on the final day of the regular season having already wrapped up its third straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title, the UW-Whitewater football team still had plenty to play for Saturday.

It sure didn't look like it, though.

Playing uninspired football for the better part of three quarters, the second-ranked Warhawks — fighting for a chance for home-field advantage throughout the NCAA Division III playoffs — dropped passes, turned the ball over and sputtered much of the day offensively.

But Whitewater's defense and sheer talent was enough in the end, as the Warhawks won their 21st straight WIAC game with a 21-7 win over the Pioneers in the George Chryst Bowl before a crowd of 4,940 at Perkins Stadium.

Despite a lackluster effort, the Warhawks likely will be at home for the duration of the postseason thanks to No. 3 St. John's (Minn.) loss at No. 16 Bethel (Minn.).

"It wasn't stellar," Whitewater coach Lance Leipold said. "We were just kind of there. We were like the weather — kind of overcast. We will just turn the page on this one and get ready for the playoffs."

If the Warhawks were overcast, former Palmyra-Eagle athlete Justin Beaver was a sunny spot, rushing 25 times for 121 yards and his 37th and 38th career touchdowns, breaking Chad Wurth's school record of 37 rushing touchdowns.

"That was one of the only times I said, 'Gimme the ball so I can get the record over with,' " Beaver said of his record-breaking, 1-yard plunge in the third quarter.

The Warhawks defense wasn't quite as sluggish, forcinh six Platteville turnovers. Senior linebacker Tristan Borzick, who had two interceptions, led a defense that pressured Platteville freshman QB Joe Burkeland relentlessly.

"I feel like they were blitzing every single play," said Burkeland, a former Pecatonica-Argyle athlete.